Associated Press stories, Page 594
For ex-Derby winner Silver Charm, it’s a life of leisure at Kentucky retirement farm
GEORGETOWN, Ky. — Michael Blowen can step outside his house any day of the week and visit retired racehorses at Old Friends, the thoroughbred retirement farm he founded in Kentucky two decades ago that attentively cares for former winners and losers alike. From his home’s backdoor, Blowen can watch one...
Maternal deaths have fallen to pre-pandemic levels, new U.S. data says
NEW YORK — U.S. deaths of moms around the time of childbirth have fallen back to pre-pandemic levels, new government data suggests. About 680 women died last year during pregnancy or shortly after childbirth, according to provisional CDC data. That’s down from 817 deaths in 2022 and 1,205 in 2021,...
Ohio launches effort to clean up voter rolls ahead of November’s presidential election
COLUMBUS — Ohio’s Republican Secretary of State Frank LaRose directed county election directors on Thursday to begin a “routine but enhanced” hunt through the voter rolls ahead of November’s election, in an effort he says is legally mandated to remove inactive registrations. “Every state is required to have an ongoing...
NHL players refining art of bank shots off goalie masks
Off the goaltender’s mask, off a defenseman’s back, nothing but net. Well, at least in the net. That is how Colorado’s Casey Mittelstadt got his first goal of the NHL playoffs this year, and it is not the only one. Several players have scored by ricocheting the puck in off...
The Fed indicated rates will remain higher for longer. What does that mean for you?
NEW YORK — Mortgage rates, credit card rates, auto loan rates, and business loans with variable rates will all likely maintain their highs, with consequences for consumer spending, after the Federal Reserve indicated Wednesday that it doesn’t plan to cut interest rates until it has “greater confidence” that price increases...
Judge declares mistrial after jury deadlocks in lawsuit filed by former Abu Ghraib prisoners
ALEXANDRIA, Va. — A judge declared a mistrial Thursday after a jury said it was deadlocked and could not reach a verdict in the trial of a military contractor accused of contributing to the abuse of detainees at the Abu Ghraib Prison in Iraq two decades ago. The mistrial came...
Remains of child found in duffel bag in Philadelphia neighborhood identified as missing boy
A decomposed body found earlier this year in a duffel bag in Philadelphia has been identified as a 4-year-old boy who authorities say was beaten to death. The body of Damari Carter was found March 18 in the city’s Mantua neighborhood by a worker who was cleaning out an alleyway....
Report: Non-white pedestrians more often end up in the ER for vehicle-related injuries
Pedestrians who are not white ended up in the emergency room for traffic-related injuries at higher rates than white people, according to a new federal report published Thursday. There were more than 137,000 emergency room visits involving a pedestrian injury between January 2021 and December 2023. Asian pedestrians went to...
Maryland officials say rebuilding bridge will cost up to $1.9 billion, take over 4 years
ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Maryland plans to rebuild the Francis Scott Key Bridge in just over four years at an estimated cost between $1.7 billion and $1.9 billion, a state transportation official said Thursday. As salvage efforts continue, authorities also announced late Wednesday they had recovered the body of a fifth...
Arizona’s Democratic governor signs bill to repeal 1864 ban on most abortionsVideo
PHOENIX — Democratic Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs has relegated a Civil War-era ban on most abortions to the past by signing a repeal bill Thursday. Hobbs says the move is just the beginning of a fight to protect reproductive health care in Arizona. But the repeal may not take effect...
Say hello (again) to EA Sports College Football. The beloved video-game behemoth is back
In a Michigan basement decked out in maize and blue, a father sat with his son. They’d bond over a football video game. One with a story mode that would transport the 7-year-old into a college dorm room, where letters from fans filled his mailbox, the campus newspaper teased a...
Mary J. Blige enlists Taraji P. Henson, Marsai Martin and more for women’s summit in New York
LOS ANGELES — Mary J. Blige is bringing her mission to empower women beyond her music to her hometown — with the help of the singer’s superstar friends. Taraji P. Henson, Tiffany Haddish and Jill Scott and other stars and experts will join Blige for her Strength of a Woman...
Average long-term U.S. mortgage rate rises for again, reaching highest level in 5+ months
LOS ANGELES — The average rate on a 30-year mortgage climbed this week to its highest level in more than five months, pushing up borrowing costs for prospective homebuyers in what’s typically the housing market’s busiest stretch of the year. The rate rose to 7.22% from 7.17% last week, mortgage...
Number of Americans applying for jobless claims remains historically low
The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits was unchanged last week and remains historically low as the labor market continues to show resiliency in the face of high interest rates and elevated inflation. The Labor Department reported Thursday that unemployment claims for the week ending April 27 was 208,000,...
Halle Berry shouts from the Capitol, ‘I’m in menopause’ as she seeks to end a stigma and win funding
WASHINGTON — Halle Berry is joining a group of bipartisan senators to push for legislation that would put $275 million toward research and education around menopause, the significant hormone shift women go through in middle age. The legislation calls for the federal government to spend more on clinical trials on...
Russia is violating UN limits on petroleum shipments to North Korea, the White House says
WASHINGTON — Russia is shipping refined petroleum to North Korea at levels that exceed U.N. Security Council limits, the White House said Thursday, signaling it will impose new sanctions against those involved in facilitating the transfers. The United Nations had set an annual 500,000 barrel global cap on refined petroleum...
Biden says ‘order must prevail’ during campus protests over the war in Gaza
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden on Thursday defended the right to protest but insisted that “order must prevail” as college campuses across the country face unrest over the war in Gaza. “Dissent is essential for democracy,” he said at the White House. “But dissent must never lead to disorder.” Tensions...
Biden expands 2 national monuments in California significant to tribal nations
President Joe Biden on Thursday expanded two national monuments in California following calls from tribal nations, Indigenous community leaders and others for the permanent protection of nearly 120,000 acres of important cultural and environmental land. The designations play a role in federal and state goals to conserve 30% of public...
A fiery crash involving tanker carrying gas closes I-95 in Connecticut in both directions
NORWALK, Conn. — Both sides of Interstate 95, the East Coast’s main north-south highway, were shut down in southwestern Connecticut — causing “horrendous” traffic jams — following an early morning crash Thursday involving a passenger car, a tractor-trailer and a tanker truck carrying 8,500 gallons of gasoline. Connecticut Ned Lamont...
‘What do we got to pay for this?’ Jurors in Trump hush money trial hear recording of pivotal call
NEW YORK — Jurors in the hush money trial of Donald Trump heard a recording Thursday of him discussing with his then-lawyer and personal fixer a plan to purchase the silence of a Playboy model who has said she had an affair with the former president. A visibly irritated Trump...
Police in Fort Worth say 4 children among 6 people wounded in drive-by shooting
FORT WORTH, Texas — Four children are among six people wounded in a drive-by shooting at a Fort Worth, Texas, apartment complex, according to police. The six were shot about 7:30 p.m. Wednesday and five were taken to a hospital while one refused treatment, according to Officer Brad Perez of...
New form of mpox that may spread more easily found in Congo’s biggest outbreak
KINSHASA, Congo — Congo is struggling to contain its biggest mpox outbreak, and scientists say a new form of the disease detected in a mining town might more easily spread among people. Since January, Congo has reported more than 4,500 suspected mpox cases and nearly 300 deaths, numbers that have...
Hamas is sending a delegation to Egypt for further cease-fire talks in the latest sign of progressVideo
BEIRUT — Hamas said Thursday that it was sending a delegation to Egypt for further cease-fire talks, in a new sign of progress in attempts by international mediators to hammer out an agreement between Israel and the militant group to end the war in Gaza. After months of stop-and-start negotiations,...
Kyiv’s forces are up against a concerted Russian push in eastern Ukraine, a military official says
KYIV, Ukraine — The situation on the front line in eastern Ukraine is worsening but local defenders are so far holding firm against a concerted push by Russia’s bigger and better-equipped forces, a senior Ukrainian military official said Thursday. Russia has amassed troops in the Donetsk region in an effort...
Police move in and begin dismantling pro-Palestinian demonstrators’ encampment at UCLAVideo
LOS ANGELES — Police removed barricades and began dismantling a pro-Palestinian demonstrators’ fortified encampment early Thursday at the UCLA campus after hundreds of protesters defied police orders to leave, about 24 hours after counter-protesters attacked a tent encampment on the campus. Police detained a handful of people on campus, tying...
